Control
by Secksbecks
Summary: Alina Petrov had been with HYDRA for 15 years, being nothing more than their weapon, Shadowfall. Going up against the Avengers, SHIELD was able to take her as their prisoner but a certain Captain saw something more in her, something good. He is determined to protect Alina, vowing never to let her go back to HYDRA and she wants nothing more than to be free of the voice in her head.


Screams echoed through the hallways of the dark compound, bouncing off the walls as they traveled to the holding cells, causing a young blonde woman cringe at the volume of the sound. Even though she had been here for years, the volume of the screams were something she could not become accustomed to. Laying on her back on the cold concrete floor, she drummed her fingers against the black fabric of her jeans, the sleeve of her dark purple shirt wrapped around her thumb under the leather jacket she had on. Shaking her head, her light green eyes concentrating on the ceiling, counting down the seconds until the screams stopped.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." She said aloud, the whole compound becoming eerily quiet at the last number.

Smirking slightly, she shook her head at how weak those people were, unable to handle the intensity of the experiments they were subjected to. No one else had been able to survive the tests the doctors ran on them, except for her. She was the only one that had gotten far enough to get the serum they had recreated from Project Rebirth. Even though it had been decades since that project, HYDRA was determined to make their own super soldiers and she was the only other one who survived the experiment. Footsteps began echoing down the hall, her hearing being enhanced from the serum, and she waited patiently for the guard to get to her cell.

"Shadowfall." The man called, using the name they had given her. "Come."

Shadowfall nodded as they unlocked the door, allowing her to walk through, leading her down to the lab. She stood right inside the doorway, back straight and hands behind her back like a soldier waiting for orders, which is exactly what she was to them. A soldier and nothing more, not even a human, just a tool for them to achieve their goal.

Shadowfall watched as Dr. Strucker paced around the lab, trying to figure out where he went wrong. After a few seconds, Strucker growled in frustration, tossing his tray of tools across the room, causing everyone except Shadowfall to flinch at the sound. The two nurses cowered down, not used to seeing Strucker this way, as they were new additions to this facility. Watching carefully, Strucker opened up the file that had Shadowfall's name across the top, her real name. Alina Petrov. Seeing the name made her heart twinge, finding it hard to remember that's who she used to be.

"Why won't it work?" Strucker thought aloud, pacing across the floor once again. "It worked before, I have proof!"

Shadowfall stood up straighter, knowing he was referring to her, as all eyes went to where she was standing. Dr. Strucker had taken her when she was just a child, her parents loyal to HYDRA and wanting their daughter to become a weapon, something they could use against Shield, should the time ever come. She had signs of abilities when she was born, and as she got older, they began to grow as she did. Her parents saw the potential of her being a weapon and quickly gave her to HYDRA to be studied and enhanced as they saw fit.

"She was born with abilities." Dr. List, Strucker's partner, pointed out.

"Yes, but there must be someone else who can survive this." Strucker sighed, shaking his head and walking over to Shadowfall. "How are you the only one to live?"

Shadowfall didn't answer, as she knew this was a rhetorical question that needed no response. She knew the punishment of defying HYDRA and she wouldn't make that mistake ever again. She had the scars to show just how far they'd go to prove their point, prove that she was nothing but an instrument.

Suddenly, she heard the voice in her head, her own consciousness waking back up, telling her that they were wrong. Biting her cheek to keep from showing her pain, the woman stood up even straighter, trying to force that side of herself back down. Through the years of torture and reconditioning she was subjected to, she felt as though there were two people living in her head. The tool that HYDRA had made her into, and the one who refused to stay down, no matter how many times the doctors forced it out of her. It was the side of her that was human, that wanted to escape but that wouldn't happen, ever, and she needed to learn that.

"Without her psionic powers, Shadowfall would've died like everyone else." List explained, as he gestured to the woman, her eyes glowing a deep purple to show her magic. "Her wide range of powers are what made her the perfect candidate and now she's even more enhanced than we could've imagine. We still don't even know all she can do yet or what else the tesseract might have awakened in her."

"Yes, but we need more like her if we're going to take down SHIELD." Strucker sighed out, as the medical workers dragged the lifeless body of the patient known as 78904 was drug out of the lab.

Dr. List was about to say something when a blast shook the entire compound, causing everyone to immediately panic. Shadowfall's eyes turned the deep purple color they always did when she was ready to fight, and she looked to Strucker for her instructions. The alarm started blaring, as the automated voice told everyone to evacuate as another blast caused dust and small pieces of stone to fall from the walls and ceiling.

"It's the Avengers!" One of the guards watching the monitors called out, fear evident in his voice. "What do we do?"

"Grab everything you can, delete all the files." Strucker instructed his men. "Begin the self destruct protocol now."

The room was soon scrambling with guards and all medical personnel trying to get everything they could out of the compound while Dr. List began wiping all the computers of all the information. Shadowfall was waiting patiently for her instructions, knowing they she couldn't act without being told first, just as they made her. Within minutes, List had the few computers they had completely wiped and the rest of the workers had disappeared, leaving only the three standing in the room while the walls still shook with the blasts the Avengers were raining down on the compound.

"Let me—" Shadowfall began before her own eyes widened in shock, not sure why she spoke without being spoken to.

Strucker and List both looked at her with mirrored expressions, none of them knowing why she was suddenly starting to revert back to the human side of herself. Shaking his head, Strucker pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration evident on his features.

"Can we fix this with the words?" List asked, wondering if that would be enough to suppress the side of Shadowfall they had kept hidden away for years.

"We have no other option. We need her to keep the Avengers busy as we leave." Strucker explained. "Otherwise, we won't survive."

"В ловушке, приглушенный, темнота, фиолетовый, пятнадцать, побег, девять, контроль, один, безумие." Strucker recited, causing Shadowfall to grab her head in pain for a brief moment before she became perfectly still. (Trapped, muted, darkness, violet, fifteen, castaway, nine, control, one, madness.)

"Shadowfall?" Strucker asked, motioning for her to step forward.

"Готовы соблюдать." Shadowfall responded in Russian, just as she was taught to. (Ready to comply.)

"Убить их всех." Strucker instructed her, before running out of the room through the back entrance with Dr. List just as everyone else had done. (Kill them all.)

Shadowfall walked through the halls of the place she had called home, navigating them perfectly as debris fell from the stone all around her as her black lace up boots echoed her every step. A small purple force would shield her body from any piece that got too close, almost as if her powers had their own mind, as she made her way to the exit only to find that the blasts had stopped ant it seemed eerily quiet amongst the snow.

"Я знаю, что ты здесь." Shadowfall yelled as her eyes scanned the trees for any movement. (I know you are there.)

"It doesn't have to be this way." A masculine voice called back from above her.

Shadowfall's eyes flashed a deep purple as the trees shook violently, causing whoever was hiding in them to show themselves. A redhead, dressed in all black landed perfectly on her feet, a gun raised in her direction. While a man dressed in red, white and blue fell a few feet away from her, a shield on his back. A suit of armor suddenly flew down from the sky, landing near her, its hands raised ready to attack. She recognized them all from the files Strucker had showed her, made her memorize so she'd be ready to fight them if the time came.

"Stand down." The man in the red, white and blue suit she knew to be Captain America, Steve Rogers, said. "We don't want to fight you."

"Too bad." Shadowfall smirked, her eyes flashing purple as she created a ball of dark light in her hands.

The redhead, who she knew was Black Widow or Natasha Romanov, fired her gun, multiple bullets headed straight for Shadowfall, but a wall of purple energy blocked the shots, causing them to fall to the ground. Raising her eyebrow, Shadowfall hurled the ball of pure energy at the two and in a matter of seconds, Captain America brought his shield around to deflect it away from his team. The blast created a shockwave so powerful, it knocked Black Widow into a tree, rendering her unconscious as Captain America slid back in the snow deeper in the trees, but still remained on his feet.

The man in the suit of armor, Iron Man better known as Tony Stark, started to fire repulsor beams at the woman but she easily dodged them all, moving with almost unnatural speed. In the middle of her bypassing another beam, a tall blonde man fell out of the sky and slammed into the ground with a giant hammer, lightning firing at Shadowfall. Caught off guard, the lightning hit Shadowfall in the chest which sent her flying back into the snow, unmoving.

"Well, that was easier than I thought." Tony laughed slightly, standing next to Thor and Steve. "Looks like we won't need the Big Guy for this one."

"Clint, Nat's down. We should get her to SHIELD immediately to be checked out." Steve said into his comm, bending down next to Natasha.

A crunch in the snow made everyone look over, all of them shocked to see Shadowfall's body wasn't there anymore. Instantly on alert, the three men turned around, looking for any sign of the woman that had vanished. Iron Man quickly flew back up into the air, using Jarvis to scan the area for any trace of her. Thor held his hammer up, ready to fight at any moment while Steve had his shield in front of him, prepared for an attack that might come

"See anything up there?" Thor asked Tony, moving around the trees as quietly as he could be.

"Nope, nothing." He replied a little shocked. "It's like she just disappeared."

"Keep your guard up." Steve said, unsure of what was going to happen. "We have no idea what she's capable of."

"No, you don't." Shadowfall whispered into Steve's ear, making him whip around only to be met with open space.

"She's playing with us." Tony groaned out, still hovering above the trees. "Maybe it's time we bring out the big guns."

"Wait—" Steve protested but Tony ignored his protest and called out to the jet that was waiting.

Shadowfall waited in her hidden state, wondering what they meant, until she felt the ground start to shake. A giant green figure appeared, the Hulk, and roared into the air, trying to frighten her enough to surrender. Snarling, Hulk began to stomp around the forest, swinging his arms through the trees trying to find her to no avail.

"Nice try." Shadowfall complimented, focusing her mind on the Hulk's. "Sleep."

Hulk's green eyes widened, turning a shade of deep purple before closing as he fell towards the ground, morphing back into Bruce Banner as he hit the soft snow beneath him. Steve's face showed the shock that everyone was feeling as they watched the strongest member of their team be taken down with just a word.

"Your turn." Shadowfall's voice echoed through Iron Man's head as his suit began to power down without his permission.

"JARVIS?" Tony shouted in his helmet, trying to get his AI in his suit to respond but it was too late.

"Stark!" Thor shouted, jumping up to catch the failing piece of tech before it crashed into the snow.

"I'm fine." Tony breathed out, his vision suddenly becoming dark as he felt himself begin to fall over. "Just take her down."

"With pleasure." Thor said, wanting revenge for his fallen comrades, as he began swinging his hammer in anticipation.

"Do you have eyes on her?" Steve asked, looking around and listening for any movement to indicate where the woman was hiding.

Focusing on Captain America next, Shadowfall took her eyes off Thor for a moment as she circled around trying to get a better angle on the star-spangled man, causing her feet to crunch under the snow for a second. Her eyes widened, shocked that she could make such a mistake when she felt the impact of Thor's hammer in her side, sending her flying feet away from the enemy.

Groaning, Shadowfall stood up, anger flowing out of her in the form of energy that almost electrified the air. Thor held his hand out for his hammer, calling it back to him from where it lay a few feet away from Shadowfall. Seeing an opportunity, she quickly used her hand to direct the energy with the hammer, causing Thor to shout in agony when it came in contact with his hand. The Asgardian crumpled to the ground feeling a pain unlike any he had ever felt before.

"It's just you and I now, Captain." Shadowfall taunted as she made her way over to the man.

"There's still time to back down." Steve tried to reason, giving her one last chance to surrender.

"I can't." Shadowfall admitted without thinking. "I must destroy you all."

Lunging at Steve, Shadowfall's purple eyes glowed even brighter as she tried to get a hit on the man in from of her. However, he was somehow managing to dodge her every move, causing her even more frustration. Just as she came back at him, Steve used his shield to block her, smashing the metal into the side of her head, the sound making him cringe.

Shadowfall fell over and for a moment, she didn't move and he thought that he had finally put her down but slowly she began to stand up. As her eyes fluttered open, he took note that they had faded from the purple color they had been the entire fight and had now changed to a light green. Locking eyes with him, Shadowfall's widened and he was prepared for another fight but instead, she looked at him with desperation.

"Help me." Shadowfall's voice called out quietly.

"What?" Steve questioned, his movements faltering, not sure he heard her correctly.

"Help. Kill me." Shadowfall begged stepping towards him, her eyes holding so much pain he almost couldn't look at her.

"What—" Steve began but was cut short as the sound of a single arrow flew by his head and straight for her.

The arrow landed directly in the middle of her chest, a cord shooting out and wrapping around her body as sparks of electricity ran up and down it, sending her body in convulsions as she fell to the ground once more. Clint walked up next to Steve, a scowl on his face as he assessed the rest of his team. Shaking his head, he headed towards the still unconscious Natasha and scooped her up in his arms.

"Don't believe anything she says, Cap." He said as he walked by the man. "She's dangerous."

Steve stared at the woman in front of him, her breathing shallow as the low temperature caused small clouds to escape her lips with each exhale. Even though she had just attacked them, successfully, he still was unsure if she was as dangerous as he thought. Pushing those thoughts out of his head, he walked over to where his team had been taken down and noticed that Tony's suit was working perfectly now and that Bruce had immediately woken up from his sleep.

"What happened?" Bruce asked, rubbing his head slightly as confusion covered his face.

"She's what happened." Tony groaned out, gesturing to the crumpled woman. "What the hell did she do to us?"

"I do not know." Thor's voice sounded from behind them. "She has powers I've never seen before though."

"What should we do with her?" Steve asked aloud, having doubts about just leaving her here in the freezing snow.

"Let's take her back." Tony stated, staring at the woman. "Fury will probably want to know about this."

Nodding his head, Steve picked her up in his arms and began to make his way back to the quinjet, as the rest of the Avengers walked ahead of him, all of them wondering what had just happened. Carefully, he set her down on a row of seats as she stayed unconscious the entire time. As he turned to sit down across from her, Tony locked a pair of electrifying cuffs and placed them on Shadowfall's ankles.

"Is that really necessary?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow. "She's unconscious and doesn't look like she'll be waking up anytime soon."

"Better to be safe than sorry, Rogers." Tony told him, moving to the front of the jet where the rest of the team stood.

Taking off his mask, Steve stared at the woman laying across from him, unable to get the way she looked at him out of his head. The way her voice had begged him to help her, to kill her, it hadn't left his mind since she spoke the words and he couldn't figure out why she had said them. She had been ruthless just moment before, dismantling his team without a second thought, why the sudden change? Trying to clear his head, Steve took a deep breath and leaned his head against the metal wall of the quinjet, hoping that when they got to SHIELD, he'd get some answers one way or another.

—

"Again, Alina!" A voice called out, echoing off the walls as a young blonde woman was thrown to the floor.

Panting, a young Shadowfall who had yet earned that name, stood back up as sweat dripped off her body, her clothes clinging to her small frame from the moisture. Putting her hands in front of her face, she prepared herself from the beating she was about to take, for her opponent was much stronger and well trained than her. He was their first success at replicating Project Rebirth and she only knew him by the metal arm and a name they had given him, the Asset.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to hit him but he gracefully dodged her attack, using her own momentum to strike her in the side with his fist. Biting back a cry of pain, Alina centered herself again and waited for him to attack this time, being able to dodge a few of his punches but she could tell he was trying to go easy on her. Attempting to throw another punch his way, she expected him to dodge it so instead, she used her other hand to punch him in the stomach, using all of her force. Surprised, the man stumbled back a bit, a look of shock on his face as he righted himself.

A smirk came across her face as she took pride in her small victory but it only lasted for a second, the man lunging for her with all this might. Alina was able to sidestep at the last second but he anticipated this, grabbing her arm and flipping her over his shoulder, slamming her back down on the ground. All the breath left her body as she collided with the thin mat underneath them, her vision going dark for a second.

Trying to keep her focus, Alina stayed on her back for longer than their handler liked as he began to yell at her but her ears were still ringing from the impact. The Asset shook his head, saying something she didn't understand to her handler that had come down to their level. She felt his hand grip around her wrist as he yanked her body up, causing her to stumble as she tried to regain her balance.

"I said, again." The handler who she only knew by his last name, Levin, said with a deadly tone, his eyes burning into her own.

"I don't know if I can." Alina whispered out, feeling as if every muscle in her body was on fire.

"What was that?" Levin asked, disbelieving what he was hearing.

"I can't." Alina admitted, hanging her head in shame.

"There is no can't at HYDRA."Levin explained, grabbing her shoulder and dragging her off into another room. "There is only obedience, and you will comply."

"No, please don't." Alina began to cry as she recognized the room he was dragging her into. "I'm sorry, I'll try harder."

"Yes, you will." Levin said in a sinister voice, throwing her small body on an upright table, locking the restraints around her wrists and ankles. "I will make sure of it."

Alina tried to thrash against the table but she knew it was no use, she had been through this many times before. Tears began to fall from her eyes without her permission as a mouth guard was jammed into her mouth, her handler going over to a table with a monitor on it along with other tools. The Asset had followed them into the room, standing against the wall waiting for his instructions as he always did. She looked to him with pleading eyes but his were devoid of any emotion, just like they had programmed him.

"Asset, hold her down." Levin called, gesturing to Alina.

Nodding his head, the Asset walked over and stood behind Alina, reaching his hands around and holding her head in place as Levin came and placed a small device on her forehead. She tried to move but she could feel the cold metal of the Asset's arm on her cheek and she knew that she would never be able to fight him. She swallowed the sob that threatened to escape her mouth Levin went and grabbed a small knife. He held it up in the light, using a flame to heat up the metal so that the blade was a bright red color.

"You will learn to do what is asked, and only what is asked. Just like the Asset here." Levin gestured to the man behind her. "You will not cry out during this or else it'll last longer. Do you understand?"

Alina nodded slightly, biting down on the mouth guard with so much strength it was starting to hurt her jaw. Closing her eyes, she knew what was coming next and she tried to prepare herself for it the best she could. Her breathing picked up in anticipation as Levin turned to the right of Alina's head, flipping a small switch that sent electricity through the device on her head. Her body jolted but she kept her mouth shut, feeling the recalibration taking effect, trying to rewire her brain not to feel pain even though she felt as if she were dying.

"Let's begin." Levin said as he plunged the knife deep into Alina's shoulder.

—

Alina's light green eyes snapped open, her vision adjusting to the bright room she was in, a room she didn't recognize and she couldn't remember how she got here. Looking around, she saw a few different machines, all of them beeping as they were connected to her in some way, and she could see clouds out of a small window on the far wall of the room. The bright silver walls hurt her head, the colors being so different from the dark stone rooms she had become accustomed to, and the bright white color the lights were emitting made her eyes squint.

Slowly, she tried to sit up from the small bed she was in but a light scrapping metal sound stopped her. Looking over to her wrist, she found that handcuffs were attached to her and the railing of the bed, making sure she wasn't going to get away anytime soon. Sensing another person now in the room with her, Alina whipped her head in the direction of the door, seeing a tall, blonde man wearing dark blue jeans and a long sleeve grey shirt, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest,

"Don't even try escaping." The man said, moving to lean against the wall closest to Alina as his bright blue eyes never left hers. "You won't get very far."

Alina eyed the man suspiciously, trying to figure out if he was going to hurt her or not, having her guard up. Looking at him for any clue she could use, she found herself staring into his eyes, wondering why they seemed so familiar, but she pushed the thought out of her head. She refused to talk just yet, part of her wondering if this was another of HYDRA's tests, and if it was, she would not fail. Still staring intently at the man, she waited for him to say something else, something that would give her a clue to where she was at. It was a few more moments before he spoke again.

"What is your name?" The man asked, pushing himself off the wall and standing up straight, no doubt trying to intimidate her.

"Shadowfall." She replied automatically, causing a crease to appear on the man's brow.

"Your real name." He urged, his voice softening slightly.

"Alina Petrov." Alina finally admitted, her name tasting foreign on her tongue as she was unsure if she should be sharing this information. "Where am I?"

"Look who's awake." Another man's deep voice echoed through the room.

Alina turned to stare at the newcomer now standing in the middle of her room. Looking him over, she swore she recognized the dark skinned man with an eye patch that stood before her, dressed in black from head to toe, with a long leather jacket covering his body. She kept her mouth shut again, still on guard about what she should do in this situation. In all of her training, she wasn't prepared for getting captured, that was never an option. Death was a more likely outcome than anyone being able to hold her captive.

"You were supposed to alert me when she woke up, Rogers." The eye patched man said to the other.

"I'm sorry, sir." Rogers apologized, shame slightly evident in his voice. "She had only woken up a few moments ago."

"Either way, I have some questions for you." The dark skinned man said, his tone full of authority. "I'm sure we all do."

Raising an eyebrow, Alina allowed herself to speak, curiosity peaking finally getting the better of her. "Who are you?"

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself. Director Fury, head of SHIELD." Fury told her, causing Alina's eyes to go wide for a split second. "So you've heard of us, good. What I want to know is how come we've never heard of you."

Alina's eyes narrowed at Fury, looking between him and Rogers, wondering why she was here and what they planned on doing with her. If they didn't know anything about her, she was sure they would examine her, experiment on her, just as HYDRA did. She knew nothing about SHIELD except that they were the enemy and they needed to be destroyed, and that was all she needed to know. If they were an enemy, she couldn't imagine what they would do to her to prove a point that they were not to be messed with, just as HYDRA would do.

"Director Fury." A woman entered the room, dressed in a SHIELD uniform, her brown hair neatly in bun. "You're needed in the lab."

"Thank you, Agent Hill." Fury replied, nodding to the woman. "I guess this will have to wait until later. Rogers, make sure she doesn't try anything...funny."

"Yes, sir." Rogers said, nodding to the two as they left, silence enveloping the room again.

"Do I at least get to know your name?" Alina finally asked, looking into a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Steve Rogers, ma'am." Steve replied politely, moving to sit in the chair across from Alina's bed.

"Ma'am?" Alina scoffed loudly, chuckling to herself. "Are you this polite to all your prisoners?"

"Prisoner?" Steve was taken back by the comment, not seeing her a prisoner at all. "You're not a prisoner here."

Alina lifted her wrist gently, causing the handcuffs to rattle against the metal showing him how wrong he was. "Then what's this about?"

"That's just a...precaution." Steve honestly didn't know how to explain that.

When they brought her into SHIELD, she was immediately checked over for any kind of device that could do damage or lead HYDRA to their location. She was clean and sent to this room to recover, all of them wondering what she was, who she was. As they chained her to the bed, Steve tried to protest but stopped, wondering why he cared so much for the girl. He shrugged it off as just his old fashioned views, not wanting to see a woman chained up like some monster. If he was being honest with himself, Steve just didn't like to see her locked up, especially after the pain he witnessed in her eyes when she begged him for help.

"You know I could get out of these fairly easily." Alina commented, interrupting his thoughts as a purple mist dancing around her fingers as she twirled her hand.

"Then why haven't you?" Steve questioned, leaning back in his chair, wondering why she was allowing herself to be here.

Alina was about to answer when she realized she wasn't even sure what she'd say. Why hasn't she tried to escape? That should have been the first thing she tried to do but she hadn't and she didn't even know why. Creasing her eyebrows, she looked down at the metal around her wrist, but made no move to try to unlock it in the many ways she knew she could. Instead, she almost felt a sense of safety wash over her, a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. Looking back up at Steve, Alina saw that he was still watching her intently, his bright blue eyes so intense she had to look away.

"Maybe I'm just waiting for the right opportunity." Alina quipped, trying not to show the battle that was raging in her mind.

Steve raised his eyebrows at her, not sure if she was joking or not, still trying to figure out the woman in front of him. She seemed so different from the Alina they had fought in the woods, almost as if she were a different person now. He studied her carefully, wondering why she hadn't used whatever powers she had to leave, she obviously could with how she took down the whole team. Just as he was about to say something, another person entered the room.

"Well, looks like our Sleeping Beauty is awake." A sarcastic voice sounded through the room.

Alina looked over at the man who was dressed in jeans and a black ACDC shirt, a blue light glowing in the middle of his chest. His styled hair and clean cut beard made his features even more prominent as he walked further into the room, a silver bag of what appeared to be blueberries in his hand. He carefully watched her from his spot in the middle of the room, waiting for her to attack again, but she never did.

"Remember me?" The man asked, his voice having a hint of anger in it as he asked.

"Am I supposed to?" Alina quipped back at him, causing him to chuckle slightly.

"So you don't remember tearing my team apart with just a flick of your wrist?" He questioned with disbelief in his voice. "I'm having a hard time buying that."

"Believe what you want." Alina replied coldly, shrugging her shoulders at the stranger. "I don't know who you are. Sorry to disappoint."

"Tony, I think she's telling the truth." Steve chimed in, trying to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.

"I wouldn't believe anything she says." Tony snapped back, pointing to Alina. "She works for HYDRA, the enemy. She'll say anything she can to try and get information out of us."

"That may be true but if she's really the enemy, why hasn't she escaped yet?" Steve pointed out. "You know that she's capable of leaving, but yet she's still here."

Tony opened his mouth for a second, then closing it, not sure what to say to this. Rolling her eyes, Alina concentrated on the small bag in Tony's hand, her eyes flashing purple for a brief second as it disappeared from his grasp, reappearing in her lap. Using her free hand, she plucked a few berries out of the bag and popped them in her mouth as Tony and Steve looked over at her shocked.

"Blueberry?" Alina asked sweetly, holding out the bag towards them with a smile.

"Give those back." Tony demanded as he went over and snatched the bag out of her grasp. "How do you even do that?"

"This is what I mean, Tony." Steve gestured to Alina, standing up to get Tony's attention. "If she could do that, she could easily leave, but she hasn't. She's still here."

"Fine, let's say you have a point." Tony admitted reluctantly. "Why hasn't she tried to leave? Huh? Why is she still here?"

"I'm right here." Alina snapped, getting angered that they were talking about her like she wasn't even in the room.

"Maybe she wants to be here." Steve explained, making Tony scoff as he turned away from him.

"You don't actually believe that do you, Rogers?" Tony argued, ignoring Alina completely as he whipping back around to face Steve again. "She's in your head, isn't she?"

"What?" Steve asked, shocked that Tony would suggest such a thing. "She's not in my head."

"Would you even notice if she was?" Tony wondered, causing Steve to shake his head.

By this time, Alina's angry had risen as the two men talked about her like she wasn't even in the same room. Concentrating on Tony, her eyes turned their signature purple color and she began to plant herself in his mind, trying her hardest not to look too deep into his thoughts. As she got began to take control of Tony, his eyes glowed a faint shade of purple, showing her success to a very confused Steve. Tony's whole demeanor changed immediately as he visibly relaxed just as Alina commanded him to.

"Tony?" Steve asked, staring at his friend quizzically. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing, Cap." Tony replied with a smile, his voice lighter than usual. "You're probably right about her. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Come again?" Steve choked out as his hearing must be off if Tony just said he was right.

"You're right, I was mistaken." Tony repeated, shrugging his shoulders as he laid a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Wow, you really are just huge, aren't you?"

"What...?" Steve began, looking uncomfortable but once he turned towards Alina, he saw her eyes had changed colors. "Alina!"

Hearing her given name shouted, Alina broke her concentration and lost the control she had over Tony's mind. Looking at Steve, she saw the hurt and betrayal in his eyes and for some reason, it made her feel something which she hadn't been able to do in a long time. HYDRA made sure to break her if feeling any type of emotion, and yet here she was, a strange emotion washing over her as Steve's blue eyes stared down into her now light green ones.

"What the hell just happened?" Tony questioned, shaking his head for a moment. "What was that?"

"That," Alina began, her voice cool and nonchalant, "was the feeling of me inside your head. So I think you'd both be able to tell if I was in his head."

"This is exactly what I mean!" Tony shouted, anger evident on his face. "We don't know what she's capable of and we're just letting her sit here like she's not the enemy."

"Stark, Rogers." Fury's voice came over a small speaker near the door. "Bring her to the lab. We have a few questions for her."

"In a minute." Stark shot back, waving his hand at the speaker.

"No, Stark, now." Fury's voice demanded in a tone that left no room for argument.

"We'll be right there, sir." Steve replied, glaring at Tony while he did so.

"So, how are we going to move her?" Tony questioned, still upset that she had messed with his head.

"I'll come with you willingly." Alina said casually, her eyes glowing purple for a second, the handcuffs making a small clinking noise as they unlocked and fell off her wrist. "I'm curious about this place."

Steve raised his eyebrows at the woman as Tony just shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. Neither of the men knew what to do in this situation, having such a complying prisoner who could easily tear through this place with a blink of her eyes. Steve looked to Tony who just shrugged, knowing no logic could even begin to explain the circumstances to the mysterious woman in front of them.

"Let's just get this over with." Tony sighed out as he began to leave the room, not bothering to see if the other two were following.

"After you, ma'am." Steve motioned politely, letting Alina go before him.

Alina smirked as she caught up with Tony, taking in everything they walked by, trying to memorize the layout as a precaution. There was a flurry of SHIELD agents moving about, some of them looking at her with suspicious eyes as the walked by, others avoided her glance completely. Alina counted her steps as she walked through the halls, taking a few turns here and there, a habit she had picked up in her cell at HYDRA, for it kept her mind occupied as she paced the floor waiting for instruction. It had been 562 steps from her room to the lab, as the group came to a frosted set of doors that opened as they approached.

"Glad to see you finally made it." Fury greeted, sarcasm all over his words.

Alina merely nodded, looking around the room to see it full of unfamiliar faces that were staring her down, studying her. A petite redhead was leaning back in a seat, her arms crossed over her chest that was covered in a black skintight body suit with what looked to be a relaxed position but her eyes did not say relaxed at all. A huge, muscular blonde man stood in the middle of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, a red cape hanging from his back that Alina did not understand the purpose of. Standing in front an array of computer monitors, all them translucent, was a slightly looking older man with dark curly hair, and glasses on his nose as he studied the information on the screen.

"How'd you get her to cooperate?" The redhead questioned as she nodding at Alina.

"I didn't have to." Steve replied, causing everyone in the room to stare at him shocked. "She came on her own."

"Only after she rooted around in my head." Tony added in angrily, as he went over to stand at the monitors by the dark haired man. "Find anything good?"

"Not much, it's like she doesn't exist." The man responded, taking off his glasses as he turned to look as Alina.

"Isn't that the point of HYDRA?" Alina asked aloud, getting the attention of everyone. "No one is supposed to know what they're up to, just like no one knows about SHIELD, officially speaking."

"I hate to say it, but she has a point." The redhead said reluctantly uncrossing her arms and leaning forward on her knees.

"You'd think someone with her capabilities would have some sort of file though, even if she does work for HYDRA." Tony tried to reason, still looking through files on the monitors.

"HYDRA or not, I've never seen anyone with powers like hers." The blonde man's deep voice rang out.

"Do you even know what to look for?" Alina questioned, trying to see what Tony was looking through. "Do any of you even know my name?"

"Well, I do." Steve chimed in from behind her, causing her to smirk slightly.

"You don't count right now." Alina told him as she waited for an answer from someone else in the room. "I didn't think so. Without a name, you won't be able to find anything no matter how hard you look."

"Why are you telling us any of this?" The bespectacled man directed at her, as he pointed the end of his glasses at her. "You're the enemy."

"Correction, I work for the enemy." Alina amended, as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Work is used very loosely though."

"How long have you been with HYDRA?" Fury wondered, finally speaking up as he had been watching the whole exchange take place.

Alina bit the inside of her lip, as a voice in her head that she had tried to suppress screamed at her for being so friendly, so human, and for divulging any information at all, no matter how vague it had been. Closing her eyes for a moment, she thought about her motives very carefully, trying to figure out what she needed to do here. She should be destroying everything here, taking her own prisoners and finding HYDRA to tell them of her victory but a shred of humanity that she didn't think she still had was stopping her.

"Fine." Fury broke the silence after a few minutes. "How about we start with something simpler? Tell us your name."

"Shadowfall." Alina replied automatically only to hear Steve cough slightly behind her, as if telling to use her real name. "Alina Petrov is my given name though."

Alina didn't know what information might be out there on her, if any, and she was kind of curious herself to see what HYDRA put in a file about her, about everything she had done and what they put her through. Immediately, Tony put in the information, a flurry of pages flying across the screen, causing her eyes to widen. She never expected there to be that much information on her out there. Though, she couldn't remember over half of what HYDRA made her do, only bits and pieces made it to her consciousness but she tried not to think too hard. She was scared of herself, scared of what they made her do, made her into.

The redhead woman moved to stand behind Tony, wondering what had shown up for the mysterious woman in front of them all. Tony's eyes began to go wide as he was going through the files, causing Alina to fidget nervously, unsure of what was going to happen next. Fury pulled up the information on his own monitor, Steve moving to stand behind him, and just read document after document about things Alina had been put through, what she had done, what she was, everything was there.

"You've been with HYDRA for 15 years?" Steve asked shocked, causing all of them to look at her with the same expression.

"Yes, I have. I was given to them." Alina explained, the memory leaving a bad taste in her mouth as she tried not to think back to that day.

"Given? Why?" The redhead woman questioned as she moved to stand closer to Alina, her guard raised.

"Before I answer anymore questions, I would like to know who the rest of you are." Alina quipped, glancing at all the unknown people in this room. "The only ones to properly introduce themselves have been Steve and Director Fury."

"Natasha." The redhead introduced with a small nod.

"I'm Bruce Banner." The dark curly headed man said timidly from where he stood by the monitor with all of Alina's information on it.

"I am Thor, son of Odin, God of thunder." The blonde man says, making Alina furrow her brow at that, but nodded nonetheless.

"We've already met, what with you messing around in my head and all." Tony glared at Alina from around the monitor he was still standing behind.

"Now, you need to answer our questions." Fury commanded, turning away from the computer and moving to stand closer to Alina, causing her to stand a little straighter, showing she was not afraid of him. "Why were you with HYDRA?"

"That's a complicated question, Director." Alina replied, shaking her head as she walked around to the files displayed on the screen, wondering what they said about her. "You ask that as if I had a choice in the matter."

"Everyone has a choice." Steve told her, his eyes meeting hers again.

Something in his blue eyes made Alina want to tell the truth, want to these strangers everything, in the hopes that they could save her, but she knew better. The voice in her mind screamed at her to stop, to obey what HYDRA had drilled into her head; trust no one and stay loyal to HYDRA no matter what, even if it means death. Rubbing her forehead, she turned away from the computer and moved to sit on the chair closest to her, feeling all the attention on her every little movement.

"I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're all thinking." Alina told them, slightly irritated that they seemed to be waiting for a fight when she had doing nothing to them, nothing that she could remember.

"Your actions in the woods would suggest otherwise." Thor responded, his voice cold but his face hard as he stared Alina down.

"The woods?" Alina looked up at them all. "So we did fight?"

"Are you saying you tore them apart, the Avengers, like they were nothing and you don't even remember?" Fury asked incredulously, his face contorted in anger as he gestured to the team standing behind him.

"The Avengers? Oh." Alina realized that's why all they all looked familiar, thinking back to how she had to memorize all of their profiles when HYDRA was controlling her.

"Oh?" Natasha repeated, her perfect eyebrows raised. "That's all you have to say?"

"This is just a ruse." Thor concluded, a small laugh escaping his throat. "She means to deceive us so she may strike again!"

"No, no." Alina tried to quickly explain, not wanting to have another fight. "I honestly don't remember everything I do when..."

"When what?" Banner urged, studying the girl in front of him as she suddenly looked unsure of herself.

"Let's just say, when my powers take control." Alina supplied, thinking that was the best way she could describe it to them.

"What did HYDRA do to you?" Fury questioned, still not trusting this woman, but wondering if she really was the enemy or if that's what they made her to be.

"More than you can imagine." Alina said darkly, her eyes becoming hardened.

"We don't experiment on people here." Fury told her, hoping it would help the woman trust them, help them maybe.

"What is all this listed here?" Tony asked, squinting at a part in Alina's file. "Natasha come here for a second."

Alina stood still, not sure what to do, afraid if she made a wrong move, she would be attacked. Even though she didn't want to fight them, she knew it would be a bad idea on their part to try to take her on. With her in control, she knew her powers weren't at their full potential but she was still strong enough to defend herself however she'd need to. Focusing back on reality, she saw Natasha scanning her file, mumbling to herself as she read down the document.

"This is definitely Russian, I just don't understand the significance of it." Natasha read, furrowing her eyebrows together. "It just seems like a bunch of words thrown together."

"What does it say?" Fury chimed in, curious about it as well.

"В ловушке, приглушенный, темнота, фиолетовый..." Natasha began to read off in Russian, causing Alina's eyes to widened in fear. "Well, those mean—"

Natasha was cut short as the computer screen shattered, glass falling to the floor as the machine powered down. Everyone looked over at Alina, her eyes glowing purple while her hand was in fist stretched out in front of her. Her face has become stone, showing no emotion as she slowly unclenched her hand, allowing her arm to fall to the side but her eyes remained purple. She could sense the tension in the air, the whole room looking like they were about to attack her if she did anything else.

"Do not say those words ever again." Alina growled out, her voice deadly as her head began to pound from the incomplete command.

Slowly, Alina's eyes shifted from the purple color to their normal shade of green and everyone began to relax slightly but the mood in the room had completely changed. Shaking her head, Alina began to make her way to the door, ignoring the strange looks she received as she did so. Using the doorframe to hold her weight up for a moment, her eyes flashing purple again for a brief second, she looked over her shoulder at the group in the room.

"I'm going to go back to my room, if that's fine with all of you." Alina spat out, not bothering to wait for a response as she walked out of the lab.

Without another word, Alina made her way back to her room, remembering where it was perfectly as she focused on her steps, trying to keep her mind distracted. They had gotten too close to figuring out everything and she couldn't let that happen, especially not here. She was not going to let them control her like HYDRA did and she was going to make sure of that. She opened the door to her barely decorated room, and stared into space for a moment, not completely in control of her body as her eyes changed from purple to green every time she blinked.

"I can handle this." Alina breathed out to herself. "I'm in control."

"Are you though?" A voice inside her head whispered, a sinister tone to it that she knew was Shadowfall.

"Yes, I am." Alina growled out, clenching her jaw, as she began to pace.

"What do you think you're doing?" Shadowfall asked, her tone disapproving.

"What do you mean?" Alina shot back, hating that HYDRA had made another part of her live in her head. "I'm trying not to cause trouble."

"You're so naive." Shadowfall cackled, the sound echoing in her mind. "Do you really think you can trust them? That they'll ever trust you?"

"I need to get out of HYDRA." Alina replied, her voice a little unsure as she looked into the mirror in her room.

"You will never be able to leave." Shadowfall reminded, the eyes in her reflection purple, showing the battle that was raging in her head. "You are HYDRA. You belong to them."

"No, you're wrong." Alina argued to herself. "I can get out. They will help me, I know they will. They have to."

"You stupid girl!" Shadowfall roared, the mirror cracking in front of her. "They are the enemy! You should be fighting them, rejoicing in their deaths, just as HYDRA would want."

"That's not what I want." Alina groaned out, holding her head as she began to lose the fight no one could see. "You've been in control for far too long. This is my body, not yours."

"You really think they'll listen to you?" Shadowfall taunted, feeling Alina's grasp on her body starting to slip. "Can't you hear them talking about you now? They are scared of you, they want to kill you."

Alina opened her mouth to say that wasn't true but her powers acted on their own, the voices from the lab suddenly being as clear as if she were there. Focusing, she could hear all the Avengers arguing over what they should do with her, whether or not she should be kept in her room or if they should put her in a cell. Closing her eyes, eyebrows furrowed in pain, Alina almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. She believed for a second that SHIELD was different from HYDRA but it didn't seem like it was.

"We're talking about a human being here!" Steve yelled at everyone, silencing the fighting. "I don't think she's going to hurt us."

"Did you not see what she did to the computer?" Tony asked, gesturing to the glass on the floor. "I wouldn't be so sure. We don't even know her."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Tony has a point." Natasha agreed, causing everyone's eyes to widen.

"Now hold on a minute here." Fury cut in, trying to see both sides. "We may not know her but she could have taken us out at any point and she hasn't."

"Yet." Bruce chimed in, tilting his head to the side. "We don't know what she's capable of so it's hard to determine if she'll remain friendly."

"You didn't see what I saw." Steve admitted quietly, having not told the team what she said to him in the woods.

"What exactly did you see, Rogers?" Fury wondered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fear." Steve explained, looking at each one of his friends. "Alina was terrified of herself, of her powers. She broke through and asked me to kill her."

"Why didn't you?" Tony asked, throwing his hands in the air. "We wouldn't even be having this conversation if you had."

Alina stopped listening, hating that Shadowfall was partly right. Even though Steve had argued for her, she could hear in his voice that he was still afraid of her, they all were. Silent tears began to fall down her face as she kept her eyes closed, trying to keep herself together. Shadowfall laughed again, the sound becoming deafening in her ears. Taking a deep breath, she looked into the broken mirror and saw purple eyes staring back at her.

"You are weak." Shadowfall spat out, disgust in her voice. "No wonder HYDRA always kept me in control. You can't do what needs to be done."

"HYDRA doesn't control me, no one does." Alina stated, trying to show strength in her voice.

"That's where you're wrong." Shadowfall began to force the humanity out of Alina, trying to take over. "I do."

"No!" Alina screamed out, crouching down and holding her head in her hands, her powers becoming uncontrollable.

All the glass in her room shattered into little pieces, her cry echoing off all the walls in the helicarrier. The entire lab went dead quiet as they heard the sound, all of them wide eyed with trace amounts of fear hidden in them. Steve immediately ran to her room, his legs carrying him there without even realizing where he was headed until he arrived at her door. Pushing it open, he carefully looked around, seeing an unconscious Alina in the middle of the floor, a purple mist all around her body. Reaching out a hand towards her, Steve was about to touch her when her eyes sprung open, the purple brighter than he's seen.

"Hello, Captain." Shadowfall smirked, slowly sitting up.

"Alina?" Steve questioned, wondering how she suddenly seemed so different from how she was just moments before.

"Guess again." Shadowfall raised her eyebrows, flicking her wrist slightly, throwing Steve into the nearest wall.

Steve's eyes widened as he was thrown back into the metal, feeling the material bend to the shape of his body. Shadowfall stood up fully, staring at the super solider as he got up, determination written all over his face. Walking closer to him, Shadowfall shook her head and laughed slightly at him. Twirling her fingers slightly, purple mist formed around them as she brought her hand up next to his face. A dark look crossed her face as she stared at Steve, almost daring him to try and stop her.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Shadowfall asked as she prepared to put him down.

In a matter of seconds, Steve was prepared to fight when Tony appeared in the doorway, his Iron Man suit on and powered up as he threw Steve his shield and shot a repulser at Shadowfall who dodged it easily. Shaking her head with a smirk, Shadowfall looked between the two men, shocked that they were still trying to fight her after she had done to them earlier. Raising her eyebrows, she laughed to herself as she began to walk towards them. Firing again, Tony just missed her as she side stepped his attack again while Steve hurled his shield at her. Not having time to dodge the shield as well, the metal connected with Shadowfall's torso, sending her flying back into the floor. Anger flashed on her face, causing the purple energy to swirl around her entire body as she stood back up.

"That was a bad idea, Captain." Shadowfall hissed out as she stepped closer to him.

As Shadowfall made her way towards Steve, Natasha darted in the room, weapons drawn at the girl. Shifting her gaze from Steve to the redhead now standing before her, Shadowfall raised her hand at Natasha as she toyed with the purple mist floating around her fingers. Firing the gun, Natasha aimed at Shadowfall but the bullet stopped midair, falling to the ground with a small clink as the gun flew out of her hand. Laughing, Shadowfall stepped closer to the pair with a dark look on her face.

"Did you really think that was going to work?" Shadowfall asked the assassin, almost taunting her.

"No, I didn't. It was just a distraction." Natasha said with a smirk as Tony snuck up behind Shadowfall.

Tony had quickly grabbed Steve's shield from the floor while Shadowfall's attention had been away from him, making sure to stay quiet as he made his way towards her. Just as she was turning around to confront him, Tony quickly bashing the shield into the side of her head, causing her to fall to the ground in a crumpled mess, all the purple mist in the room and around her disappearing as soon as her eyes had closed. Steve slightly glared at Tony for the aggressiveness he had hit her with even though he knew it was the only way they were going to survive a fight with her. Moving towards her form, Steve took her into his arms carefully, moving to put her back into her bed when he heard Natasha protest.

"Not there, Steve." Natasha told him, motioning for him to follow.

"Where are we going to put her then?" He asked, worried about what they were going to do to her.

"Fury asked if we were to get her subdued to take her to the containment room." Natasha explained as they walked down the hall.

"What?" Steve questioned, shocked at the order from Fury.

"Steve, she almost just killed us, and probably everyone on this helicarrier. This is for our safety as much as hers." Tony explained as he walked next to them, watching the unconscious woman carefully.

Steve was going to argue but deep down, he knew they were right. In those moments when Shadowfall was looking at him, fear coursed through his body as he wondered if she was really going to kill him. Staring down at her seemingly lifeless form in his arms, Steve didn't understand how she changed so fast which made him wonder what HYDRA had done to her. After a few more minutes, the three reached the glass room that they had made for Loki, with a few more modifications added. Walking into the room, Steve laid her body down on the small bed inside, turning to leave only to see Fury standing there waiting for him.

"How'd you do it?" Fury asked, nodding to the woman and wondering how they had stopped her again.

"A blow to the head seems like the surefire thing to get her down." Natasha explained to the man, staring at Steve for a moment.

"Good. We need to understand what she is." Fury turned to walk out of the containment area, making his way back to the lab where Banner was waiting, Natasha and Tony following behind him.

Steve stood in front of the glass, his blue eyes conflicted as he stared upon Shadowfall's sleeping body, wondering why he was feeling so guilty for the woman who had just tried to kill him. She was just that though, a woman, not a monster like HYDRA wanted her to believe. He knew what HYDRA was capable of and he could only imagine what they put her through. Vowing he'd come back when she woke up, the super solider left the area as he headed back to the lab himself, curious of what else they could learn about her.

—


End file.
